Monday 4 January 2021

The new and the ongoing

 

 Happy New Year! 

I hope 2021 is good for you. OK, I know the world is not functioning normally because of this pandemic so there's a lot of hope in that wish, but I think we all feel things are going to improve.

Stay safe, get vaccinated when available and don't listen to the ignorant. I've just read a novel* set around 1630 when plague devastated Europe. And how was it combated? By social distancing, by quarantine, by restricting travel and avoiding assemblies. Tried and tested methods. They didn't have such effective medicines or any vaccines, but we do, so get vaccinated. Any risks from a vaccine are far lower than the long-term, deadlier risks from this disease.

* I Promessi sposi (The Betrothed) by Alessandro Manzoni (1842), possibly the most famous novel written in Italian, set in the Duchy of Milan in 1628-30. It tells of wedding plans interrupted by the scheming of a local nobleman and what happened as a result. A beautiful story beautifully told.

 

Resolutions

I'm sticking with my New Year Resolution from 1997: I am a trans woman and every day I embrace my femininity in some tangible way. I dress as a woman, wear perfume, paint my nails, read women's magazines and chick lit, go out or online as Sue, decorate my home with flowers and pretty things, etc. Whatever the world says, or much of my body might suggest, I am a woman and I manifest it every day. I wrote about this resolution here:

Those biggest resolutions

Here's the photo I've chosen for my 2021 avatar:

 

Blog

Last year, like a lot of people, I had far more time to write my blog and I see that increase continuing in 2021. In mid-2019 I did wonder if there was scope for an English language trans blog from someone who no longer lived in an English-speaking country. But there is a lot to talk about in terms of trans news and a lot that I have wanted to write about and have never managed to. In this 700th anniversary of Dante's death I might tackle the subject that is still painful even half a lifetime later, which is the religious pressures I had on my trans life as a young person. Not exactly a Divine Comedy, it has to be said.

 

The third ring of the seventh circle of Hell in Dante's universe, where the "violent against nature" are rained on by fire. Although not specified, it is the most likely place where transgender people end up after death according to late medieval Christian theology. The Abrahamic religions have progressed a little since 1300 but there is still a very long way to go. One of Gustave Doré's famous set of 19th Century illustrations for The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri of Florence (1265-1321).
 

And talking of great Italians, I am getting (indeed, have always had) some readers from Italian speaking countries and will be adding a paragraph in Italian at the end of my blog entries. I've been living in Italy for over two years now.


A dip in the archives

I thought I'd share a post from January 2012 by way of complete contrast with January 2021 when going out is difficult. Not dissimilar to my description of sales shopping with friends in my last post, this includes a trip to the cinema. This shows how comfortable I had become living life as a woman and doing normal stuff.

First outing of the year

 

Cari lettori italiani 

 Vi auguro un felice anno nuovo. Speriamo che nel 2021 tutto vada veramente bene, soprattutto con l'eliminazione di questa malattia che ci ha fatto tanto tribolare. 

Aggiungerò qualche paragrafo in italiano ad ogni pagina futura, però questo rimarrà un blog scritto per la maggior parte in inglese. Chiedetemi pure spiegazioni nei commenti.

Fra poco aggiornerò la pagina biografica ("About") con dettagli su di me in italiano. Per adesso, basta dire che sono una ragazza transgender che si è spostata da Londra alla Provincia di Imperia, che cerca amiche e che vorrebbe anche qualche consiglio sulla vita transgender in Italia.

 

Sue x

7 comments:

  1. Good luck with the new year's resolution. I think I'll need to stick to Google Translate for the Italian elements 😁

    As a teen, I loved myths and legends, so I was interested in seeing an arts programme on Dante. Unfortunately, it was one of those arts shows that seemed to show a lot of folk in the buff. :-/

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    1. Gosh, there's a lot in your comment, Lynn.

      The New Year's Resolution is about the only one I've ever been able to stick to, and have done so for 24 years now. I am a transwoman - no more purging or guilt, and a manifestation of my femininity, even if only to myself, every day. Works for me.

      I am a professional linguist and writing (shudder) "Google Translate" on my blog is like, well, arts shows with too many folk in the buff. Ugly folk at that. Who swear. When you're a embarrassed teen. So please, if you ever need a translation, engage a specialist. (You don't need to know the Italian stuff on here, it'll just be a summary or some kind of local outreach.)

      Best wishes for 2021. I'll be in touch shortly by email.

      Sue x

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    2. "...You don't need to know the Italian stuff on here..."

      Translation software is, I think, at best a guide on what's been said. It probably says more about my lack of linguistics than anything else 😉

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    3. Hi Lynn, I highly recommend the very talented Malinda whose Twisted Translations channel on YouTube is largely devoted to "Google Translate Sings" where she takes an English song, puts it into another language via Google Translate, and then puts the result back into English using the same. Then she sings the result to the original melody. For example, Bohemian Rhapsody by Google Translate is a moving, meaningful, modern classic in its own right ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwOH3YsraNs
      Sue x

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    4. PS Don't worry about your lack of linguistics. After 35 years of using IT, and 10 years on Blogger, I still can't make things work here! Sue x

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  2. May you continue to live as much as possible as your True self my dear friend. Hoping for better times and an end to this awful pandemic, so we can return to some kind of normality and be able to meet up with friends and loved ones. Take care & stay safe Sue <3

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    Replies
    1. Aw, thank you, sweetie. You have been living your true existence for a while and it shows in your genuineness. Stay safe and well and hope to see you again before too long. Sue x

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